N.P. Upadhyaya Kathmandu: The US heavy weight has better late than never spoken on “Kashmir occupation” carried out by the Indian Union on August 5, 2019.
After his comments made on India’s Kashmir aggression last month perhaps nothing remains to be spoken by other world leaders on Kashmir.
He weighs high even if several world leaders speak collectively against his remarks and thus he has authentically stamped that Kashmir has at best been occupied by the Indian establishment and that India should act in a way that the UN resolutions have already dictated on Kashmir.
It was an occupation of Kashmir, so implied the US towering personality.
In doing so, he perhaps ensured the entire American-Pakistani votes for himself in the upcoming US Presidential elections.
Bernie Sanders of the US Democratic Party while addressing the audience at an event hosted by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) that he was “deeply concerned” about the situation in Kashmir and has also asked his own US government to “speak out boldly” in support of a UN-backed peaceful resolution to resolve the lingering issue.
His thundering speech may have jolted the entire US Administration. President Trump too prefers a solution to the issue however, his political inclination for a variety of reasons impede his ways that doesn’t all him to press India hard.
It is perhaps the Indo-Pacific Card.
Making a fiery speech at the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America in Houston on last Saturday, the 77-year-old leader also sought an immediate end to communications blockade in Kashmir.
The reverberations of Bernie’s speech must have approached Delhi-the capital of the Hindu-fascist regime.
Kashmiri people since 30 days plus have been imprisoned by the Central Government of India. The brutality appears to have no end in sight.
The septuagenarian US leader Bernie says, “India’s action is unacceptable,” while addressing one of the largest Muslim gatherings in the country in decades.
“I am deeply concerned about the situation in Kashmir and thus the Indian action in Kashmir is unacceptable,” Bernie added.
Bernie thus has hit the nail right on the head of the Indian PM Modi.
Bernie Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont, said the crackdown on dissent in Kashmir “in the name of security” impedes the access to medical care. Unfortunately, Bernie Sanders has not been told of the Nepal’s misery brought about by the Communist thugs for the common people of Nepal.
Is Bernie listening? For God sake please listen to the killing of democratic system in Nepal by the Communists.
To Pakistan’s utter surprise, Bernie Sanders is a Jew who has joggled the entire US management by taking the just side of the “majority” Kashmiri people (the Muslims who apparently do not wish to mingle with the Jews).
In Nepal however, this scribe once brought the Ambassadors of Pakistan and Israel together and they not only shook their hands but since then became good friends.
(The names of the Ambassadors have been withheld for some exclusive reasons).
Pakistani leadership should now think on how to initiate diplomatic ties with Israel.
I recall, how the Indians in the early seventies used to hate the Israelis in Kathmandu.
And now perhaps it is the Indian government which is perhaps most close to the Israeli state.
Modi hugs Benjanim Netan Yahu as and when they meet each other either in Delhi or in Jerusalem.
India by inching closer to Israel has enhanced its military strength in various sectors.
Initiation of diplomatic ties with Israel will be a good proposition for Pakistan despite the idea may be taken as a cultural-religio shock to the majority Muslims inside Pakistan. The Oxford graduate PM Khan perhaps will take up the issue for the benefit of his nation though he may counter some problems in the initial days.
The rest depends on the Pakistani leadership led by Imran Khan. But yet as far as I recall, PM Benazir Bhutto have had definitely tried “secretly” to land in Israel but in the meantime some political glitch thwarted the entire secretly planned trip to Israel.
At least this was the rumor in Kathmandu then as far as this scribe recalls.
After Bernie Sanders criticism of India on Kashmir, Professor Larry Diamond at the Stanford University in one of his fresh articles touches upon Kashmir.
Let’s look what he says: “In the face of sometimes brutal and even deadly state repression, the courageous mobilization of ordinary citizens, standing up for their rights, should inspire all of those who live in established, liberal democracies. At the same time, the ill winds of strongman populism, intolerance of minorities, and readiness to eclipse constitutional norms—which have already eviscerated democracy in countries such as Hungary, Turkey, and Bangladesh—now cast a shadow over the future of democracy in the Philippines, Poland, and India, particularly with the recently reelected Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dismissal of the state government in Kashmir. (He missed referring Nepal).
Dr. Diamond says, “Without the support of the U.S. government, pro-democracy forces around the world will wither as authoritarianism gains ground.
His saying applies to Nepal’s case as well as the ruling communists have become like oppressor. The Nepali population instead of enjoying democracy are being ruled by authoritarian rulers. People may revolt any time.
A quick look into the gist of Dr. Diamond’s article one can get that this veteran political scientist feels pained by the fresh Indian attack on Kashmir. He is not happy with the summary dismissal of the state government in Kashmir.
He says this in his article titled “America’s Silence Helps Autocrats Triumph” published in the SEPTEMBER 6, 2019, ISSUE OF THE FOREIGN POLICY MAGAZINE.
Coming back to Israel, Some Arabian countries too secretly have been trying to break the age old taboos and initiate ties with Israel, it has been learnt from high placed international commentators.
Prior to the Jew Bernie Sanders, it was Ms. Ilhan Omar, once again a US Democratic senator who had talked in favor of the Kashmir population who have been living in a hellish conditions since August 5 under the shadow of barbarism of the Indian military forces since last month. And now it is Dr. Larry Diamond who has spoken on Kashmir. Sympathy is increasing in favor of the Kashmiri “imprisoned” people.
The tragedy with Pakistan is that she has no “effective lobby” in Washington D. C. The absence of an effective Pakistan lobby in the USA is what has perhaps been the greatest failure of Pakistani diplomacy which has been hurting Pakistan in many more ways than one. The facts speak for themselves.
But yet, some British law makers have acknowledged that the Kashmir issue is an internationally recognized dispute and awaits the “implementation of the relevant UNSC resolutions.
They have also noted with concern the tragic situation of “human rights” as well as the blockade imposed by India which has led to a severe humanitarian, political and security crisis in the “occupied territory”. (Courtesy Twitter September 4, 2019).
The Pakistan PM Khan has some good news for the Indian Sikhs together with the entire Sikh community scattered all over the world who as pilgrims visit Kartarpur and Nankana Sahib, as well as other Sikh holy sites in different cities of Pakistan.
Addressing a Sikh conference in Lahore PM Khan has assured the Sikh community that his government will make all efforts to facilitate pilgrims who visit Kartarpur and Nankana Sahib, as well as other Sikh holy sites in different cities of Pakistan.
In all his modesty, PM Khan said that “This is not a favor, this was our duty”.
The prime minister expressed his concerns over the situation in occupied Kashmir, saying: “No one who has any humanity left (in them) can tolerate the current situation in Kashmir. We can never accept that you place eight million people under lockdown for several days and cut off all communication. I would have raised my voice even if they [Kashmiris] were [non-Muslims].”
At the end of his speech the PM said “he realized that Kartarpur and Nankana Sahib were as holy for Sikhs as Makkah and Madina were for Muslims, and promised to make access for Sikh pilgrims as easy as possible.
PM Khan’s positive gesture must have pleased the attending Sikh pilgrims who were listening to his speech in Lahore inside the convention hall.
International commentators now have valid reasons to believe that the Sikh community shall now work as “Peace Ambassadors” in between the two rival countries.
Khan’s Lahore speech too would have its own sort of impact on those Sikhs who have been championing for the cause of Khalistan. The Canadian Sikhs will celebrate for some exclusive reasons. It is expected to boost in its own way the slogan of Khalistan referendum-2020.
And PM Khan mentioned that a day may come soon when the Sikhs shall be the target of the BJP party. The RSS shall not spare the Sikhs, Khan hinted.
Look how PM Khan made the Sikhs to believe that the BJP threat was not only real but sure to hit the Sikhs sooner than later.
In the meanwhile the Pakistani Army last Thursday said it had successfully test-fired a nuclear-capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile called Ghaznavi.
The missile is capable of “delivering multiple types of warheads up to 290 km”, said armed forces spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor.
This came amid rising hostilities between Pakistan and India since New Delhi revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status earlier this month.
India’s Chandrayan has already landed in the Moon, it has been learnt.
PM Khan has recently talked with the French President and the Jordanian King close on the heels of the launch of the Ghaznavi ballistic missile.
Definitely, the launch of this missile must have added strength to its military might whose impact must have approached Delhi-the seat of RAW and the Hindu terror machinery.
Responding to PM Khan, the French President highlighted the significance of resolution getting sought through a nonviolent ground while he also lauded Pakistan’s continuous efforts of bringing about peace in Afghanistan.
Abu Arqam Naqash for the Reuters writes that a Kashmiri militant commander has said on Sunday that Pakistan should send troops to protect the people of India-controlled Kashmir if the United Nations does not send peacekeepers, after New Delhi revoked its autonomy last month.
Mr. Abu Arquam Naqash further adds that “It’s binding upon the armed forces of Pakistan, the first Islamic nuclear power, to enter into the India-occupied Kashmir to militarily help the people of the territory,” Syed Salahuddin- the militant commander- who heads an alliance of over a dozen groups fighting Indian rule in Kashmir, said reports Reuters dated September 1, 2019.
Along with the Indian atrocities the Kashmiri population have been made to suffer since one month or so, the news covering international media too have been telling their ordeals while noting down or for that matter taking related photographs of the security forces atrocities in India held Kashmir.
Media man Mr. Rifat Fareed for the Al Jazeera writes September 1, 2019, that
“As the crippling lockdown in Indian-administered Kashmir nears a month, journalists in the region complain of harassment by authorities, with many accusing security forces of deleting their camera footage and pressure to report “normalcy”.
“This is a unique situation, writes Rifat that none of us had seen anything like this in the past. Even in the worst of times in Kashmir, we were able to file our stories,” said Muzaffar Raina as he waits to access his email at a Media Facilitation Centre in the main city of Srinagar.
The India-Pakistan conflict will definitely have a negative impact on the US wish for an honorable and early exit from Afghanistan so writes Anwar Iqbal for the Dawn Daily.
“The developing situation in India-held Kashmir might negatively impact the Afghan peace process, warns a US think tank as a congressional subcommittee scheduled a hearing to review the situation in the valley.
Media man Anwar further writes that “Pakistan has been playing a significant role in the recent US-Afghan peace negotiations with the [Afghan] Taliban. The Kashmir issue may not only detract Pakistani resources and political will away from Afghanistan but potentially could also be used as leverage to persuade the United States to intervene with India,” the US think tank report adds.
The reason is very simple in that “The Afghan peace talks are in their final phase and the US and Taliban delegations are now holding their ninth meeting in Doha, Qatar, to finalize a deal. But reports from Doha indicate that Washington may fail to conclude a deal by Sept first week as it had been expected.
A fresh news from Kabul says that the U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has returned to Qatar for more, unscheduled talks with the Taliban.
His return comes just four days after Khalizad announced that his team had reached an agreement “in principle” with the Taliban aimed at ending the longest war ever to ensnare the U.
S. military.
When he announced the draft agreement on last Monday, Khalilzad said his negotiations with the extremist group had concluded and that the deal lacked only approval from his bosses in the Trump administration, writes CBS this morning dated September 6, 2019.
The delay, if any per chance, will further enhance Pakistan’s role in persuading the Taliban to stay engaged with the US. But what if an annoyed Pakistan dilly-dallies the US requests?
Pakistan media believes that President took a U turn from what he had assured PM Khan on July 22 at the White House.
Naturally if Pakistan fails in managing an early and dignified US exit from Afghanistan as promised, the US shall perhaps conclude that it may have been so due to the Indian actions on Kashmir which deflected the attention of Pakistan towards Kashmiri people plight or else Pakistan would have acted according to its words given to the President of the USA.
Before we conclude, the Pakistani Ambassador to the United States Asad Majeed Khan said the international community “must do more” to pressure India to end its militarized curfew over Kashmir. Ambassador Majeed said this in Washington said claiming that India’s prime minister has turned a vast section of the disputed Muslim majority region into “practically a concentration camp.” He was talking to the reporters of the Washington Post in the recent days.
All in all, Bernie Sanders taking up the Kashmir issue and Pakistan’s own Ghaznavi ballistic missile strength have made its impact in its own way.
To conclude with Kashmir again: The military lockdown and communications blackout imposed by the Indian government following the revocation of the region’s autonomy last month has crippled life in the Muslim-majority Kashmir region, so writes Adnan Bhat for the Al Jazeera dated September 6, 2019.
Mr. Adnan adds, the unprecedented siege, which entered its second month on Thursday, has severely affected patients in need of urgent medical attention and better facilities.
That’s all.